The present invention relates to processes for catalytically reducing and/or transforming organic carbonyl compounds. More particularly, the invention relates to the catalytic asymmetric reduction of ketones.
There is often a need for optically active molecules for use as pharmaceuticals or specialty chemicals. The economy of producing such compounds can be improved where chemical synthesis yields substantially enantiomerically pure forms of such molecules. Currently known methods for the catalytic asymmetric reduction of ketone substrates utilize late transition metals (e.g., rhodium, ruthenium and iridium) with chiral ligands. Although useful, such processes are costly due to the use of expensive late transition metals and potentially hazardous reagents. Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide safer and more economical processes for the catalytic asymmetric reduction of ketones to yield alcohols having a high level of enantiomeric purity.
It is thus an object of the invention to provide a safer and more economical process for the catalytic asymmetric reduction of ketones. Another object is to provide such a reaction where the end product of the reaction is effectively and conveniently isolated. A further object is to provide relatively safe and effective methods of catalytically reducing ketones to yield alcohol end products of high enantiomeric purity. Other objects will be apparent upon reading the disclosure which follows.